Celtics begin life sans Rondo, welcome Kings to town

(Sports Network) - The post Rajon Rondo era will begin in Boston on Wednesday
night when the Celtics take the court for the first time without the All-Star
guard.

Rondo tore his ACL against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and the team confirmed
the injury on Sunday during a victory over the Miami Heat. Now the Celtics
will have to make a go of it without a true point guard when they host the
Sacramento Kings.

"There literally are no different roles," head coach Doc Rivers said of his
expectations. "I don't want a guy now to think he's Rondo, or anything like
that. Everybody's going to play their same role. The only different thing is
someone else may bring the ball up and then pass it. That's the only
difference."

Courtney Lee is expected to start in Rondo's place with Avery Bradley assuming
most of the point-guard responsibilities. Rivers is concerned about teams
pressuring Boston without a true point guard on the roster.

"We have a lot of guards, we just don't have a lot of point guards," admitted
Rivers. "Someone will pressure us and someone else will have to bring the ball
up. Those are the things we have to work on, more getting the ball up the
floor in a quick manner."

Pierce had a triple-double against the Heat in the Celtics' 100-98 double-
overtime victory Sunday afternoon.

The win against the defending champs snapped a six-game losing streak for
Boston. Wednesday night will be the second in a four-game homestand.

The Kings will be playing their third of a six-game road jaunt. Sacramento is
1-1 on the trek after a 28-point loss in Denver and a nail-biting victory
Monday over the Washington Wizards.

Isaiah Thomas flipped in a tear-drop with a second left on the clock to knock
off the Wiz, 96-94.

"I thought he did the right thing driving to the basket," said Kings coach
Keith Smart. "That little floater gave us a big win."

Thomas paced the Kings with 22 points, seven assists and four rebounds. The
bench provided a huge lift for Sacramento as Francisco Garcia (17 points) and
Marcus Thornton (11 points) did well in reserve roles.

Starting forwards John Salmons and Jason Thompson both played less than 15
minutes against the Wizards.

The Kings won this season's only matchup with Boston, a 118-96 victory on Dec.
30 in Sacramento. The Kings have won two in a row against the Celtics, but
haven't won in Boston since Jan. 19, 2007, coming up short in the last four.